The urban legend of the "The Vanishing Lady" provides the basis for the story of "Cabin B-13." The episode begins with two newlyweds, Ann and Richard Brewster, as they board an oceanliner for their honeymoon. They have $10,000 in cash and plan to travel through Europe for three months. The bride has recently recovered from "brain fever", an archaic term for meningitis, and she is still weak and vulnerable.
Her husband Ricky takes their money to deposit in the purser's safe but then disappears. She tries to enlist help to find her lost husband, but no one believes that he really exists. She claims that they were booked into a cabin numbered B-13 but there is no such cabin. Her only help is from the ship's doctor.
We are told that the story is set in "happier, peace-time days", but we don't know exactly when. The name of the ship is the S.S. Maurevania which is based on Cunard's Mauretania or Mauretania II.
Suspense first presented this story on March 13, 1943 with Ralph Bellamy. Here is the second broadcast which aired on Nov. 9, 1943. It starred Margo, an early pioneer of the one-named performers, and Philip Dorn. William Johnstone played Ricky Brewster and Dennis Hoey played Capt. Wainwright. The radio-play was written by John Dickson Carr.
Download Suspense.1943.11.09.Cabin_B-13.mp3
(Image from Morguefile.com)(Rev. 11/27/07)
ICAI (In Case Anyone's Interested): Margo married actor Eddie Albert, best remembered for "Green Acres," "Switch," and "Falcon Crest."
Posted by: Philippa | May 05, 2017 at 02:51 PM